Ladybird Tuesday - Stamp Collecting

I think that most people collected stamps as children, I know that I dallied with the hobby although I didn't get very far, I do still have my album though! The Ladybird book Stamp Collecting is from Series 633 - Hobbies. I do love this series although I don't own many from it, I did look at Tricks and Magic a few weeks ago. Stamp Collecting was published in 1969 and is one of the earliest books in the series.

The book begins with an interesting history on the history of stamps, and some fascinating facts. For example, because England was the first country in the world to use stamps, there was no need to put the name of the issuing country on it. The omission of the name of the country has remained a feature of the stamps of Great Britain ever since (or at least until this book was published, that information may be out of date now!).

The book continues by introducing early postage stamps from both Great Britain and the other countries that began to use their own stamps, beginning with Brazil and parts of Switzerland. As more and more countries started to produce stamps, they became more interesting and became illustrations of things like historical events, famous people and industrial or agricultural products. The book takes a look at stamps which fall into different categories, for example ships, animals, music and paintings. It's a nice introduction to collecting stamps based around particular themes. 

I'm guessing that stamp collecting is still a popular hobby today, although perhaps not as popular as it once was. I'm pretty sure that most schools don't have a stamp club today like they did in 1969, although I expect you could find one around locally. I really liked this book, it inspired me to get my old album out again!

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood